As we all know, M$ caters to a large market, consisting of many types of people, professionals, market, and geographic. Thus, they must make the 'Default' settings in Windows a balance of all these criteria. The problem is.. for the average user who surfs the net, word processing, games, chat, download/upload files, email, etc.. many of the 'Default' settings are not necessary. Worst yet, it eats up valuable resources/RAM, which affects the performance dramatically.

Windows 7 comes with a built-in 'Back up' feature that is capable of doing a 'System Image' or 'System Image + Data'. Which has improved even more since the release of Windows 7. I utilize this feature a lot. I have an external 1TB HD, which i use as a 2nd and 3rd partition for storing my Libraries/Data. I then make 'System Image' backups, so i can restore Windows 7 to a time i prefer. I always make a 'System Image' backup before installing software.

Now.. down to my settings. First.. i must express what i use Windows for:
- Surfing the net
- Uploading/Downloading files
- Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator
- Im behind a Router
- I don't use a Printer
- Im not part of any work network, only my Home Network
- My ISP is Comcast, which is Cable Broadband
- Im hard-wired to the Router
- I use Kaspersky Internet Security 2011
- I have & always turn off 'UAC'

Those are the main 2 areas that will dramatically improve the performance of your computer, depending on how many of the items you implement. Go ahead.. give it a try.. i guarantee you'll notice a dramatic improvement in your computer's responsiveness/performance.

But remember.. make a note of the changes you make... so you can reverse the changes..

In Addition
What dramatically slows down your PC's Boot time are software that loads in the background. Many do this without your consent or knowledge! Many hide themselves in the Registry, using the Image Trick. The BEST Software to detect this is 'Autoruns', which is FREEWARE, the best Startup Manager i have come across. It even goes beyond Startup Programs, it lists all Codecs, Drivers, DLL, and all M$ items. No installation required, this has been portabilized by the author.

Oh yea.. 1 more thing.. if you don't use Hibernation.. and you turn it off.. the file still resides on your HD.. which can be anywhere from 2MB - 2 GB.. deleting this file will help you regain that space:

To check if the file still resides on your HD:
• Open my computer
• Click 'Organize' up top left hand corner
• Select 'Folder Options'
• Click 'View' Tab
• Uncheck 'Hide protected operating system files'
• Click 'OK' to exit
• Now go to 'C' drive
• You'll see 'hiberfil.sys', which can be anywhere from 2mb to 2gb.

F.Y.I
The only tricky part is Step 5.
When dragging the dotted separator on the right side towards the left, make sure you do not go off the Taskbar as you're dragging. Drag it towards the Start Button, and continue to drag it past the dotted separator on the left, eventually, once you past those Icons & dotted separator on the left, they will automatically jump to the right side. At which point, all you have to do then is center and re-lock the taskbar to hide the dotted separator.